I believe that life is better lived with a challenge. Putting yourself in the driver’s seat with a purpose can transform the world from a guided tour to a self-directed adventure.
When it’s well thought out, a good challenge helps to answer the age old question, “What do I want to get out of life?”
The 1% club is my answer to that question. It is the list of things that I deeply want to accomplish in my life that less than 1% of the world will ever do.
Here’s how it works:
Each item is specific and meaningful to me and comes with a self-imposed time limit because I want them to be memories for longer than they are dreams.
I’m not a fan of multitasking, but I do love synergy so I’ll pursue one item at a time except where something greater can be created by doubling up.
Each item on the list will come with an explanation and regular updates to the blog as I make progress so that you can follow along. That’s another important part of a difficult challenge – public accountability. The more people you have pushing and rooting for you, the harder it is to give up when things get too hard.
Follow along or even join in if you feel compelled (send me a note and let me know what you’re up to).
Also, you can leave a comment at the end of this page to let everyone else know what epic, inspiring challenges you’re pursuing.
Here’s the list:
Skydive
Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
Fly an airplane
Steer a ship
Sell a business for $1,000,000
Raise $250,000 for charity
Found a non-profit organization
Summit the highest peak of each continent:
- Africa – Kilamanjaro – 19,340 ft.
- Antarctica – Vinson Massif – 16,050 ft.
- Asia – Everest – 29,029 ft.
- Austrailia – Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) - 16,024 ft.
- Europe – Elbrus – 18,510 ft.
- N. America – McKinley (Denali) – 20,320 ft.
- S. America – Aconcagua – 22,841 ft.
- Practice Mountains:
Play 100 live concerts
Write a book
Change someone’s life with a piece of art
Play a concert to a crowd of 1,000
Bike across the United States
Get married
Have a child
Run a marathon on every continent – In Progress:
- Africa
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Australia
- Europe
- N. America - Eugene, OR – Completed 5/2/2010
- S. America
Interview the President of the United States
Appear in a movie
Live homeless for 1 month
Visit every state and province in the US & Canada
Get arrested for a cause I believe in
Does the run a marathon on every continent include antarctica?
Joel – You bet it does!
Do those even exist?
Yup!
http://www.icemarathon.com/
That’s sweet.
As I read through your list I noticed two items that I could help you with indirectly. I belong to a community choir, The Chorale. It got its start as just a group of people who wanted to sing at a Christmas walk. Now, 28 years later, it’s grown considerably to over 60 members who perform regularly and have traveled internationally.
So how can you help? You could “change someone’s life with art” in a small way by donating a piece of music ($100), we can suggest a title or maybe you have a favorite; sponsoring a Young Artist Scholarship ($1,000), members of The Chorale do this every year, too; or in a big way by “raising $250,000 for a charity” The Chorale, we’re a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization so you might be able to get a tax-deduction, too.
If you’d like to hear us first, The Chorale will be performing this summer as one of two choirs Dr. Craig Jessop invited to join his American Festival Chorus (AFC) for a 2010 summer mini-tour. The Chorale will travel to Utah State University on June 27, 2010 for five days of workshops, rehearsals and two concert performances with the AFC. The chorus will then travel to Sun Valley, Idaho where they will be joined by a 55-piece orchestra to perform a July 2nd concert of patriotic music in the acclaimed Sun Valley Pavilion, with guest artist Peter Cetera.
I figure this is a long-shot; however, arts funding is always precarious at best so it doesn’t hurt to ask. Thanks, in advance, for considering The Chorale in your quest.
Kindest Regards,
Cara
Thanks for the info Cara. That’s actually a pretty creative idea you have. I’ll look into your group and be in touch if I think it would be a good fit.
Tyler, I found your site from the MSN article and it is us! Two friends and I did the riskiest thing we’ve ever done and started our own skydiving magazine. We’d love to help you achieve goal one: Skydive. E-mail us and let’s do it!
You are amazing! I found you from the article that spoke of you on MSN. I am so happy to see that there are other people out there who question what our society considers the right path. I am a Holistic Life Coach and dancer and I teach others to live through their spirit. And, the airplane flying is amazing. If you have a smaller airport near you call and request a discovery flight. That is how I did it! Good luck on your journey!
Lara – I’ll be in touch!
Jessey – Thanks for the tip. That could be a lot faster and less expensive than getting a license. I love shortcuts!
Somebody wants to help us skydive??!! Woot! Let’s do it dear.
Started an art studio, when I broke my ankle and had to be home for a month or so! things are slow going but am managing.
hey my bro started two amazing non-profits that are doing powerful things, and i’m sure they would love your help with fundraising… or anything really. one is called “education generation” http://www.educationgeneration.org (funding students education around the world), and the other is “global agents for change” http://www.globalafc.org (raising money for micro-finance initiatives in developing countries).
otherwise though, your list is inspirational! i think you should do the homeless thing in Vancouver BC’s east end. It’s warm enough in the summer, and we could always use the press on the neglect of our homeless community! plus if you need a partner in crime, i’ve always wanted to do that too.
peace.
I found your article very inspiring and i’m actually going to give it a try and see if I can live on the bare minimum. You’ve also encouraged me to start my own list of things to do. Best of luck!
Hey Tyler
My best friend sent me the link to your site. What you are doing is beyond brilliant. Very akin to my everyday attempts to push myself.
I can help you out on Canada’s West Coast.
Are you familiar with Couchsurfing.com? Start up a profile.
Congratulations, i’ll be following.
-Carol-Lynne
Thanks Carol-Lynne. Keep pushing yourself! I’ve actually had a lot of good luck with couchsurfing, it’s a really great resource.
If you decide to do homelessness in the city that is renowned for it (Vancouver), also consider Victoria for one or 2 of those weeks.
Just watched your tutorial using mint.com and ING. I spent the time afterwards skulking around for Canadian versions.
Yodlee seems to be best so far. Not as pretty of an interface, but it’ll do.
Keep up the great work!
Tyler,
Found your article on a Liz Pulliam MSN article( who I read alot of articles from). What a great idea creating a list like that. I will be creating a list for my girlfriend and I to live much more sparingly after hearing what you have done.
I have used the couch surfing before and it is a great resource.
Thanks
Matt
Doing more for less is my motto. Have fun dreaming up your list!
Since you wanted to know of others risky projects, here’s ours: we’re going to build a house. Not hiring other people to do it, we are with our own two feet (and hands too, but mostly feet). We’re building using cob (a matrix of clay, straw & sand) it’s mixed together using your feet, last for forever if taken care of, is nearly free and almost impossible to get permits for. It rises 12″ at most on a dry day and we want to build 2 stories.
The risky part? We will have to spend our entire life savings to get the land to build it on, then spend probably 2 years of our lives building every weekend. Not to mention likely having to build around legal loopholes regarding permitting.
Consider adding “build a house” to your list. Use what ever method you like, but make something that lasts that you’ll love. I recommend building cob after having the kid, because even kids can help build with this material. (I’ve watched a 1 year old do it and 70 year old at the same construction site, truly egalitarian.) The homes of some of the best Cob instructors around are near where you ran your marathon.
That is so cool, 3county! You know, I studied architecture in college and my last career was in sustainable construction, so I really dig what you guys are up to. Good luck!
Curious if the home you are building is is in-town or rural.
I like the idea of building, but it seems difficult (and expesnive) to find buildable land in town, which is where I prefer to live. I know its possible to find a lot, especially when you factor in the city fees to make it “buildable.” (I’ve seen costs of $80,000 – $90,000 in smaller cities!) Most of the literatire I see, i.e. Mother Earth News, is all about living in remote rural areas …
Risky things I’ve done: quit my job to start a business. Kept the business open. Keep moving!
I found you thru Liz Weston’s article on MSN. Thanks for the site. This really helps me keep my head in the game!
Great webpage and 1% list. Would an ultra-light aircraft satisfy your list? They’re less expensive and don’t require thousands of hours/dollars of classes before you are soloing.
I like the “build a house” suggestion. I’ve helped friends build frame houses, cabins, and domes but haven’t built anything from start to finish yet so it’s on my list. If you add it to your list I’d suggest a dome because they are fast and fun but the roofs and interiors are tricky.
My list isn’t as scary as yours but includes: visit every continent and US state (>1/2 done); write a book (~1/5 done but stalled); make and wear an outfit from raw materials I personally harvested – presumably wool or cotton, fur or buckskin to be really ambitious; quit my job and retire early to pursue MY interests (possibly before the end of the year).
Good luck in your quest – I hope we’ll cross each others path trying to reach our goals!
This is an amazing idea that inspires me and I am sure it has inspired many others!
Best of luck!
Gerlie
I salute you in your pursuits. You’re a very ambitious young man, and it seems that you are well on your way to meeting and exceeding all of your goals.
I too have put together a small list of my own. I would like to achieve quasi-native fluency in two foreign languages (Japanese and Spanish – though it is looking like Mandarin Chinese is adding itself to this list); to permanently reside in another country (I’ll be living in Tokyo, Japan for one year starting in September in order to study Japanese at a university there and have considered it as an option for this dream); to travel around all of South America, Europe and Asia (have been to Japan once but while I’m there I may also visit South Korea with a friend); and to write a book. This list is still growing, but these are the ones I have made the most important.
I have found your site very up lifting. I am an office manager and mom, who raised two children, my own siblings and older family members since I was a little kid. I have heard of these Dream lists and was so busy with everyone else I just couldnt find the energy to sit down and even think of a dream or wish as everything seemed so out of my reach. I have read your entire site just today and will be making MY list this weekend. Thanks to ALL who have posted. You have been encouraging and helped me to realize I can be 1% and a dreamer!
Here’s another way you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I’ve managed to raise $500 so far for Multiple Sclerosis, and will be skydiving by the end of the year!
https://www.skydive4free.com/
Awesome list!! We are a newly founded 503(c) Corporation and we are very fortunate to work with many many wonderful people that help us restore neighborhoods and provide quality clean safe homes for many single parents, older people and veterans.
Please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist you with any of the goals on your list!
Namaste’
Your site was not what I expected after reading the MSN article. That is quite a list. Good luck working towards it.
Came across your page by accident but at a time when I needed it. I have been thinking of taking a risk on something but have been stuck in the fearful stage, “what if”. Your website has given me some inspiration to know i’m not alone. Taking the first step is the hardest.
Hi Tyler, I find your website very refreshing..I have owned my own business for years and I am always shaking things up trying to keep my business going..No Small effort in this troubled economy…I recently started a Non-Profit Therapeutic Riding center for disabled kids and adults, this is very challenging as all the Fundraising is very tough and the events I have held have been unsuccesful at raising the money I need to grow this business. Any suggestions on marketing would be helpful as I am planning more Fundraisers ie:BBQ,Walkathon/Rideathon and I would like to raise more Money then I spend for a change! I want this Non-profit to succeed as it is a DREAM I’ve been working towards for 30years…I welcome any and all suggestions from you and your readers!!! Thanks for the boost!!!!
Lorie,
have you tried golf outings as fund raisers? I don’t know where you live, but in my area, golf outings are almost always effective. People who golf tend to be people who can afford club memberships, so they spend a lot of time at the golf course anyway, and they love to golf, so as long as they are there anyway, they don’t mind playing and paying to support a good cause.
Hi Tyler,
Great concept and list. Several of the items on your list seem sort of remarkably universal to me. I ask people to make lists all the time, and many of the same items appear. I wonder if there is some ‘lost’ or misplaced wanderlust in all of us. Meaning I think you’re on a very real and very human path! Ahhhhh to healthy risktaking.
I make a list of 52 goals (or self-improvements or habits to break, etc.) around the first of the year every year. There is no right or wrong or completion guideline. There IS the pride of averaging and there IS record breaking. Many of the items appear over and over again (much in the way that your items are permanent until completed,) and never looked at as uncompleted when undone but rather as ‘not completed yet.’ I average around 13 successes a year and my record is 17 items in one year. Sometimes items become unnecessary, so I drop them but don’t count them as completions or successes.
By the way, I have created or significantly helped to create four non-profits, all operating well. There is an unwritten book and an unborn child that tug the hardest for me these days. At any rate, good luck, and let me know if you ever need help from South Carolina.
Tyler,
You’ve essentially turned the concept of a bucket list into a carpe diem list. It such a positive spin and one which I think many of us feel inspired to pursue whether or not we take systematic steps to do so.
As I read through your list and the list of comments, I found that I can help as a business-person and entrepeneur as well as someone who sets up free fundraising for non-profits.
As an entrepreneur I partner with like-minded people who want to create their own business, create financial freedom, and transform the lives of others one person at a time. In my non-profit work I set up completely free, healthy, year-round fundraising for 501c3s. If you or any of your readers are interested, please let me know. http://www.fitnessisthekey.com/non-profits
Good luck on your goals and let me know if I can help!
Wow, I would love to sky dive and fly a plane! However, flying a plane would need a license? And to get that, one will need alot of money for the whole course? So I reckon you will need to sell a biz for 1 mil so you can pay for the course? haha… just my 2 cents.
*sorry i mean do the selling of biz FIRST before u can have the $$ to go for the course….
Tyler we’re kindred. My husband and I are skydivers (husband was on 2006 largest formation world record skydive even) and I am launching an action/adventure website that acts as a resource tool to promote and support the action/adventure community in Iowa. I hope that if your journey through your list brings you through Iowa you will look us up and couchsurf with us! Good luck and blue skies!
Janet
truly inspiring. I’m actually rethinking my life right now and considering a major career change. On top of that, there are other things i would like to do. Great quote i read today too, “Be who you were meant to be, not who you’ve let yourself become.
After recently leaving my husband with my 4 kids in towe and moving 1300 miles away, I found joy in reading your site. It seems everything I do these days is a risk..and of corse a lot of people have opinions about that. The newest plan is working my butt off at a job I dont care for, 50+ hrs a week, for the summer. I can quit when my kids start school with enough money in the bank to not work till next summer which will allow me to be there with them while they adjust to the divorce. Secondly, it will allow me to work on me as well since divorce stinks! I am planning on getting my doula business launced in the area and starting a book Ive had started for years. I think it will be healing and its good to know Im not the only “crazy” person out there. Best of luck to you on your list!
This is simply put – amazing, and exactly what I needed to see. Thank you for putting this out there!
I am so inspired by your site. I have been reading your daily emails for the past 2 weeks and I feel like telling you THANK YOU. Everyday I learn something new, just by your email. I am currently in the process of walking away from my current job of 6 years to finally start my business. I am scared to death but know I need to take the risk. Reading your emails puts me in the mind frame of taking action…action about my life. I have so many things that I want to do and nowhere to start. I suspect I might make a list, like you did. I having been putting it out in the universe that I get help with my website, business plan, and graphics. i know that something will come through. I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
My friend Luke sent me one of your blog entries this summer and I have been following you ever since. I love getting your e-mails and look forward to reading what you are saying. I am in pursuit of putting a check mark next to this one on my list right now.
finish a sprint triathlon-Aug. 2010
Thanks for your words and heart.
Great list, and great comments. I think it’s awesome that people are following their dreams and that there are people out there willing to help others realize their dreams! I’m 39 and have been working on my list (as I see 40 on the horizon). Also, I’ve been reflecting back on my 30s and thinking of some amazing things I’ve done that wouldn’t have appeared on my list–opportunities that arose and I swallowed my fear and went along for the ride. I’m looking forward to checking things off my list as well as enjoying those adventures that take me places I’ve never expected to go!
Getting married and having kids is certainly a great adventure.
Make sure you cover most of your list items before having kids.
All my riskology list went down the drain after giving birth…
I’m divorced mom of a 12 year old.
Good luck
Come and run your European marathon in Helsinki. I’m sure we can get you arrested too, there are plenty of good causes I can think of. Surely a part in a film can be arranged too.
Just curious – on interviewing the president – does it have to be the current president?
That’s a good question, Tom. There might be a good opportunity there to interview a past president. Or even a few of them.
Having a kid is huge!
Now that I have one, I´m into putting the two of us into some adventure together. The old getting out of our comfort zone.
I can’t tell you inspired I am by your site. To be the age you are and to have figured out the simple life is amazing. I wish I had figured it out sooner.
I am 40 years old, married with 2 young boys. About a year and a half ago I started to feel the need to simplify, get back to the basics, etc. I’ll tell you though, it’s hard to make big changes when kids are involved but we are taking baby steps. I hope to instill into my kids the love of life and freedom that this lifestyle affords you. I want them to take risks and see the world and make a difference. There is more to life than 9-5 and coming home and plopping your butt on the couch and vegging out.
One of the adventures we have started is, we live in Kentucky and have 120 counties here. Our goal as a family is to visit all 120 in the next 12 months. We have been at it for right at a month and are loving every minute of it. We hope to spread it to visiting every State then who knows where from there. I invite you to follow our journey as we follow yours.
Best of luck on your adventures and God Bless…
I discovered your site from an article in MSN and decided to take a peek, interesting ideas!!I have always taken the “safe” way through life.I am a potter(older) but do not have to make my living doing so.I do it because I love it.I don’t have any ideas regarding change and I am not (so far) goal oriented so don’t have a list of things I want to accomplish in my lifetime but maybe I should look at trying to change my lifestyle a litte more to my liking.I am very sedate and work out in my studio every day and I do create some interesting pieces and I also do jewelry but have never promoted it.I like your enthusiusm and you have some very good ideas.Thanks for the site.HR